


War Does This to People Sometimes

by niamdaisies



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: ...., ///:, Angst, M/M, Niam - Freeform, abuse kind of, also mild violence, but the death is at the very end like the very very end, liam is the vet, lots of pink, niall is forgiving, niall is just kind of like a housewife, possible trigger warning for PTSD stuff, so don't let that stop you, there are small mentions of sex, unfortunately no full on smut, war shit going on, well not really because there's no actual war in it, yes there's death
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-10
Updated: 2015-03-10
Packaged: 2018-03-17 00:25:17
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,300
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3508220
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/niamdaisies/pseuds/niamdaisies
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Niall understood. Everything was going to be okay. War does this to people sometimes.</p>
            </blockquote>





	War Does This to People Sometimes

**Author's Note:**

> I don't know. just uhh.. read it?  
> it's not very good but I wanted to upload something since it's been almost a year /: so yeah here it is idk  
> OH AND DO NOT READ THIS IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH ABUSE.

Sure he'd seen Liam throughout the past eight years here and there for months at a time, but this was different. Liam was finally going to stay and never go back. He was all his again.

Niall couldn't believe his eyes as he saw his fiancé at the end of the corridor. They'd gotten engaged not much over two years ago, but now Liam was back! They could finally get married, he thought.

Without a second thought, Niall ran as fast he could, not stopping until he was flush against the muscles body with his arms around his neck, crying into his shoulder.

Liam dropped his bag and wrapped his arms around the blonde, lifting him up and twirling him around as if they were in some kind of cheesy romance film.

Niall giggled and pressed his lips to the brunette's, not able to stop smiling, effectively breaking the kiss after a few short moments.

"Hi, baby. I missed you" Liam murmured against his lips and tucked a bit of blonde hair behind his ear as he leaned away and stared into the bright blue eyes he loved so much.

Niall's eyes began to fill with tears at last and before he knew it, he was sobbing into the man's shoulder, wrapping his arms around the toned torso.

"Hey, love, it's okay. I'm here now, I'm not going anywhere." Liam whispered and rubbed the boys back before lifting his chin and using his thumbs to wipe the tears from his rosy cheeks.

Niall cleared his throat and let out a small laugh,"i just missed you s'all."

Liam smiled and picked up his duffel bag, swinging it over his shoulder and reaching down to lace his fingers with Niall's, swinging their arms between them as they walked out of the airport.

Luckily, Niall parked the car just in front so it took only a few minutes to get to it.

Once inside (with Niall driving and Liam in the passengers seat), Niall reached over and squeezed Liam's hand as he spoke up.

"Liam?"

"yes, love?"

"I love you."

Liam smiled and kissed the blonde's hand, "I love you too, baby. More than anything."  
\---  
It had been three months now and everything was great.

The two just wanted to relax and spend time with another to make up for all the time Liam was away.

And for a while that's what they did.

Niall would wake up extra early and make pancakes or omelets for when his fiancé awoke and when he did, he always wrapped his arms around the blonde's waist, resting his head on his shoulder and kissing his cheek.

Many days they spent simply cuddling on the couch, watching movies and eating whatever they could find.

And most nights ended with Niall on his back, lying underneath the large body of his man who slowly rocked into him and peppered soft kisses on and around his chest and sweet collarbones.

Their life was seemingly perfect. They were just two lovers who were finally free to stay together as long as they wanted without fear of time bringing forth another departure date too soon.

But war is something you can never escape.  
\---  
The first time it happened, they were having a lie in day like most days.

"Liam, can you go get some blankets please?" Niall was lying on the bed, wearing boxers and his favorite pink jumper which liam had picked out for him the first time he came back.

Liam got up and smiled,"sure, babe."

Niall laid in bed for what felt like an hour. So the closet with the big fluffy blankets was down the hall but what was taking so long? He was freezing!

Niall huffed and stood up from the bed and slowly walked down the hall to the closet.

Liam was there, shuffling around, throwing the blankets out and shoving them into a pile before going back in and repeating the action with others.

The blonde furrowed shook his head and smiled. Weirdo, he thought.

He quietly approached the taller man and rested a hand on his shoulder as he laughed out,"What're you doing?"

His question was cut short as the next thing he knew, he was being shoved against the nearest wall with a forearm pressed against his neck and a hand tightly squeezing his wrists together in front of his chest.

He craned his neck and whimpered. What?

"Liam.." he croaked out and that's when the man dropped him and he fell to the carpeted floor.

The brunette had a look of sheer terror on his face before he shook his head, tears beginning to fill his eyes.

He helped up the smaller boy and took his face in his hands, examining him as if he were about to break at any moment.

"Niall, baby, I am so sorry I don't know what came over me I'm so sorry. Please understand I would never do that on purpose, I love you so much I am so sorry, please forgive me.. oh my god."

To say Niall was scared would be an understatement. But he understood, he thought.

He leaned in and attached his lips to Liam's for a moment before pulling away.

"It's okay, Li. I know that uh.. I know that war does that to people sometimes. I didn't mean to frighten you, that was my fault."

Liam rapidly shook his head,"No, no, it wasn't. It was mine. I promise it won't happen again okay? I love you so much I am so sorry, baby," he brought the boys red wrists up to his lips and kissed them both.

"I'm so sorry.." he whispered.

A sad smile formed onto Niall's face.

"I'm fine, Liam. Really. I'm not hurt, just scared me s'all." he smiled again and ruffled Liam's hair.

"It's okay. Now let's go get these blankets and we can cuddle and finish our movie okay?"

Liam swallowed and nodded before returning back to the closet after a peck to the blonde's lips.

"You never answered my question though.. what were you doing?" Niall asked, pointing to the pile of blankets on the floor.

"Oh." Liam smiled,"I was trying to find some pink blankets. I like seeing you all wrapped up in pink" he blushed as much as his tan skin would allow and pressed a kiss to the blonde's hair before reaching in and finally pulling out two big and fluffy pink blankets.

Niall blushed (the rosiness visible on his pale skin) and giggled, taking the blankets from Liam's arms.

"Okay, weirdo, let's go back to our room and finish the movie yeah?"

And that was that.  
\---  
The second time wasn't much different, although this time it resulted in more than Niall only getting a bit frightened.

Another lie in. How could that go wrong twice?

Niall had been cooking some dinner while Liam took a nap on the couch.

It'd been two weeks since Liam pinned him against the wall like that. His wrists didn't hurt anymore and he wasn't the least bit scared. He understood the situation.

Niall shrugged off his little pink apron which had flowers on it as well (Liam just REALLY loved to see his baby in pink), and set it in the drawer where it belonged.

He quickly turned off the stove and skipped over to the couch where Liam lay with his head slightly hanging over the top.

He was asleep of course, so Niall simply stood behind him and reached over, running his hands down Liam's chest and leaning over to place a gentle kiss to his lips, his chin leveled with the brunette's eyes, humming as he pulled away.

Liam loved when Niall woke him up because he couldn't ever be grumpy from fatigue when the prettiest boy was there, planting cute and soft kisses to his face.

Liam hadn't exactly been woken up this way since his last visit so he didn't react well.

In an instant, his eyes shot open and he reached behind himself, gripping the blonde's waist on either side, easily flipping him over the couch as if he were a doll.

The small blonde squealed, thinking Liam was just playing around and wanted to gently throw him around like you might a child, (it was something they used to do quite often).

Niall tried to grab at Liam's hair as soon as he fell into his lap, wanting to play too, but was stopped by a fist colliding into his jaw.

The punch was powerful enough to throw him off of Liam's lap, next to his feet which led to a painful kick into his side, throwing him against the coffee table.

After the cacophony of bangs and crashes and groans and whimpers, the room fell silent.

Niall was in absolute shock.

Liam had never hit him before. Of course he knew the reason as to why me might now, but still. The love of his life had just punched him and kicked him into the coffee table.

His hands flew to his face and he began to cry. He just couldn't believe it. Liam hit him! Liam kicked him!

The ache in his jaw was painful, yes, but he was sure he'd broken a rib and possibly broken his nose from hitting the table face first.

He lied there for a few moments, hands over his face and sobbing at both the situation and the pain.

It took Liam longer this time to snap out of his trance, noticing Niall curled up and crying on the floor.

He got to his knees and crawled over to the boy before him and rested a hand on his shoulder as tears rapidly began to fall from his eyes.

"Oh my god." that was all he could bring himself to say as he lifted the crying boy to the couch.

After peeling his hands away from his face, Liam saw the slight swell of his jaw and the way his nose seemed slightly more crooked than usual.

He couldn't believe himself. He hurt his baby.

Niall sniffled and brought his hand up to wipe at his eyes.

"Niall.. please I'm so sorry." Liam whispered and cupped the boys injured jaw, noting the way he flinched.

Niall let out a dry sob and bit his lip.

"Liam it hurts."

And those three words broke Liam's heart more than anything else ever had. His baby boy was in physical pain and it was his fault.

"I'm so sorry.. baby where does it hurt?" Niall shook his head at the apology. He understood. War does this to people sometimes.

"My.. my nose and- and my side." he whimpered when Liam traced his fingers over the side he'd kicked.

"I'm going to take you to the hospital okay? I'm so sorry I need you to be okay, I love you so much."

Niall swallowed the lump in his throat as he felt Liam's tears fall onto his own skin.

"Please hurry. It hurts. And I-I love you too Liam.. it's okay" and niall blacked out.  
-  
It was a bit hard trying to explain that Niall had fallen down the stairs when the injuries he had clearly did not back up his story.

But the doctors took it as they saw how torn up Liam was about the situation.

Niall was able to leave as soon as he woke up again. He had indeed fractured a rib so they ordered him to avoid potentially harmful activities (including sex, which both boys groaned at).

He'd also broken his nose so he was to wear an embarrassing bandage over his nose until that healed as well.

Once they were home, Liam closed the door behind them and gently pulled Niall towards him so their chests were pressed together.

The brunette dug his nose into the the blonde's hair and trailed kisses down his face, being extra careful around his nose and jaw. He then got to his knees and lifted the boys shirt, pressing tiny kisses all over the bruised area.

Once he stood up again, he lifted Niall and carried him over to the bedroom, carefully setting him down in the mattress and tucking him in with a knitted pink blanket.

Liam pressed a kiss to the blonde's forehead.

"I love you, Niall. I love you so much I'm so sorry, I can't forgive myself I.. I control it."

Niall smiled sadly and pat the bed beside him. "Cuddles," was all he said.

"I don't want to hurt you" Liam whispered, tears filling his eyes again. He didn't want to risk hurting his baby again. He couldn't.

"Please? I hurt and your cuddles and kisses always make the hurt stop." Liam wanted to die.

God he was cute, and as much as he didn't want to risk hurting the small blonde, Liam agreed and shuffled into the bed beside him, allowing him to lay his head on his chest and curl around his body.

Everything was going to be okay.

\---

They say the third time's the charm.

It'd been months and Niall was fully healed. He could dance with Liam in the living room, he could go out and play golf again and of course, they could have sex again.

Everything was perfect and everything was forgotten.

But then things took a sudden turn for the worst.

Niall noticed that Liam had been acting strange lately. He was starting to yell at the blonde for tiny things such as not doing the laundry or taking too long to cook dinner.

Niall thought it was okay though. he understood. Of course he would be under stress. That was normal. He understood. He did. War does this to people sometimes.

One night Niall was woken up by Liam grumbling to himself in his sleep, his back turned towards him. A nightmare, it seemed.

The boy didn't like seeing Liam so distraught, so he reached a hand over and lightly touched his back.

In less than a second, he was pinned to the mattress with Liam above him, his hands around his neck.

Niall's eyes went wide as he desperately clawed at the hands around him and he gasped for air.

He felt tears pour from his eyes and he kicked and struggled to his best ability.

Soon he felt light headed, his hands stopped clawing and his kicking receded.

He was going to die. He knew.

In one last feeble attempt to be freed, Niall made eye contact with the brunette, gasping out an attempt at the word "please."

And then his body went limp beneath Liam's grasp.

It was those eyes. When the piercing blue eyes met with his own brown, realization hit the man like a truck.

His eyes widened and he immediately let go of the blonde. He lowered his ear to to the boy's mouth, terrified of what the outcome may be.

He was breathing, though. He was okay.

Liam cried out in relief before he thought back to what he'd just done.

He'd literally just _strangled_ his fiancé.

The brunette quickly shook the blondes shoulders, hoping to wake him up. Had he just sent him into a coma or something? fuck.

Luckily Niall shot up and was thrown into a fit of coughs, gasping for air and gripping his own throat.

He leaned over the bed and coughed until he was gagging and choking on air. He felt as if his lungs were on fire, for Christ's sake!

Liam wanted to throw up at the sight before him. He couldn't believe himself.

He pulled at his hair and just cried, not being able to simply pull the boy into his arms. He couldn't. He was a monster.

It seemed like hours but Niall's coughs and gasps eventually subsided and he sat back on his pillow with his eyes closed.

He could hear Liam's deep sobs and whispered apologies.

Niall opened his eyes and just stared on. The sight of his love so broken and terrified broke his heart. He understood. War did this to people sometimes.

The blonde sat up on his knees and wrapped his arms around Liam, burying his face in his neck, pressing a chaste kiss there.

"Liam I love you, it's okay", the amount of strain heard in his voice only caused Liam to cry harder, finally wrapping his own arms around him.

"I love you so much, please forgive me" he cried out, laying them down and pulling away to wipe at his tears.

And Niall forgave him of course.  
\--  
Not more than two days later, Niall leaned against the sink and stared at his reflection in the mirror.

His fingers traced the dark bruises which circled his neck and sighed. Why was this happening?

He loved Liam. He understood that the war was taking a toll on him. He understood. He was sure of that.

But what he wasn't sure of was how much he could take.

Sure, Liam had pinned him to a wall.Sure, he'd hit him and kicked him. But Liam had tried to kill him.

Niall shook his head. He knew that he couldn't help it. He knew it was the war. War did that to people sometimes.

It was then that Liam walked in and caught him staring at the bruises.

Niall froze. He didn't need another crying fest. He didn't need anymore apologies either. He understood.

Surprisingly though, Liam only stood behind him and wrapped his arms around his waist. Niall watched through the mirror as Liam kissed every last mark on his neck and finished by turning his head and kissing his lips.

"I love you. I just want you to know that. I love you so much more than to the moon and back."

Niall sighed and closed his eyes, leaning back against the chest of his fiancé.

Everything was going to be okay.  
\--  
It never stopped. The two eventually got married at last and although they lived the happiest life together they could, the abuse never stopped.

That was what Niall finally decided. They weren't just accidents anymore. He was going to call it abuse. No he didn't mean to, but he still did it.

But Niall loved him. He was so terribly in love so how could he ever leave? He didn't care if he was pushed or punched, thrown around or even strangled sometimes. He loved Liam, and he understood.

It was the day Niall had been informed that he was being promoted. His salary was going up 20% so this was huge! He rushed home to tell his husband, more excited than ever. Maybe they could finally look into buying their dream house or even adoption!

Niall burst through the door, immediately going to their shared bedroom to tell him the news. But when he walked in, he hadn't expected what he saw at all.

Liam was lying on the bed, looking peaceful as ever, holding the handgun they kept for protection in his slack hand.

He wasn't exactly surprised. He knew this might happen eventually.

Tears fell down his cheeks as he pulled the blanket over his husband, taking the gun and placing it on the bedside table.

He would call the emergency hotline later. For now, he would sit beside him, silently crying into his own light pink jumper.

Every last inch of his body was bruised. He felt as if every last bone was broken as well. And now his heart too.

Niall took a deep breath, wiped his eyes and smiled. He loved Liam. And he knew Liam loved him too.

He would be able to talk to Liam again some day.

Everything was going to be okay. He understood.

War does this to people sometimes.

And war is something you can never escape.


End file.
